Blog Name
When I moved over here from “I’m Not Emeril” I felt a new blog name was called for. When I first created “I’m Not Emeril” I simply grabbed my Yahoo email name. At the time I didn’t know that “Not Whoever” was such a popular blogger identity. Since my blogspot blog was started after Ben Tribbett’s “Not Larry Sabato” blog, people assumed I was emulating Ben. Sure, that assumption was annoying, but I learned to live with it.
Anyway. This new site needed a new name. While on my tractor, (I do some good thinking on that tractor), I thought of the name you now see at the top of this blog. Eschew Obfuscation.
Those words were on a little sign taped to the front of my high school English teacher’s desk. Ironically, or perhaps hypocritically, it means avoid confusion. That little sign sparked some interesting discussions within his classroom.
Eschew; (ĕs-chū) To avoid, or shun, especially on moral or practical grounds.
Obfuscation; (′äb·fə′skā·shən) To make obscure or unclear, especially in the written or spoken word, often deliberately so.
It occurred to me, while riding the big blue tractor, that obfuscation seems to be a particularly enjoyable hobby of most of the folks who purport to represent me in government. Someone once said of one of my representatives, “He holds such high regard for the truth that he keeps it, like the good china, in a locked cabinet; he almost never uses it.”
Obfuscation does not belong solely to the political class, it is cherished by many newspapers as well. Especially editorial page editors, it seems.
Oh, and bloggers. Political bloggers tend to obfuscate more than anyone else. Seldom with an outright lie, though that’s not unheard of, but more often by not relaying the entire truth.
My purpose here is to de-obfuscate Virginia’s political landscape. You, my readers can join me in this effort by e-mailing me with any examples of obfuscation you particularly eschew.
Let me share a sad story with you. Do you know why a candidate cannot be produced to run against Ward Armstrong? Our local Republican groups both city and county, have been frantically calling people asking them to run.
Now here is the good part: they are telling people it doesn’t even matter if you win or not, just run so we can piss off Ward! Come one, come all, join us, let us throw you under the bus!!
Perhaps this explains why I never hear any positive things about these groups. Don’t hear as much negativity about the city, but the county should just dissolve and start over.
June 5th, 2009 at 4:27 pmHmm. That’s interesting EAP.
I know there was a potential candidate from another county. A good candidate, successful businessman, good looking, late 30’s or early 40’s, well spoken, a Sunday school teacher even.
But I’m told he was strongly discouraged by someone in a leadership position in the Henry County GOP.
He decided he could not put his wife and family through a campaign that wasn’t fully supported by the GOP in Armstrong’s own county. The “official story” is something about business decisions and that sort of usual stuff, but I know the guy and I know the whole story. Perhaps he’ll let me use his name and tell it here some day.
Actually, I could tell several stories about our local “leadership”. I choose not to at this time.
Now you tell me they are looking under every rock and behind every tree for a sacrificial lamb they openly say they won’t support?
In any other district in Virginia, Ward would have been gone long ago.
FULL DISCLOSURE:
June 5th, 2009 at 5:50 pmBefore I deliberately missed three meetings in a row, I was in a “leadership position” within the local GOP. I am the former Vice-Chairman of the Henry County Unit. For the record, I am not the “leader” who discouraged the candidate who will only be known by his initials, R.H.
I normally don’t refer to myself as a “witch” but right now if I could turn someone into a frog I would! How in the world will the GOP ever get back on top with the mindset of some of the people “supposedly” leading the party? Any interest out there in forming a new chapter and call it Henry County Conservative Group?? We could probably find some great independents to join and we could support conservative values and have our own events and fund raisers. May catch on good if we don’t have a D or an R attached to us. I believe more and more people are sick of straight party liners. Man I hate to use this expression but perhaps it is time for “change”.
June 6th, 2009 at 12:21 amTrust me, you two are not alone in Henry County.
June 6th, 2009 at 10:36 am